If you like reading short stories that reflect on long ago or have an important lesson to be learnt, you would love this site called “Some Perfect Short Stories.” I did not read all of them but just two. The first talked about carrying water on one's head. Of course if you have grown up in the Caribbean especially in the 1970's this was a very common phenomenon. In my days it was said that it caused a person to have a very refined and dainty walk, but knowing how things go here, maybe someone else may have heard something else.
The second story was called “I had a Hero.” I absolutely loved this one because it teaches us and children that heroes are ordinary people among us who have desirable qualities that we can emulate. Anyone can be a hero to another, if you live by correct principles and values, which is so needed in our “less personable” world.
A link to this site is provided under “My Hyperlinks”
Another interesting site I found was “Coomacka Island” They tell interesting children stories based on a Caribbean theme. The one I watched and listened to was “The Story of Spider & Ant.” Children will thoroughly love hearing these stories. They remind me about using e-books and digital storytelling to get my students motivated to read and to help sustain that motivation. You can also check out the site and stories by clicking on “Coomacka Island” under “My Hyperlinks” on this page. Please ensure though that you approve of the stories before presenting them to your students.
If you find other interesting sites that relate to Caribbean “Flavour” Stories that are “Free” please let me know.
Picture retrieved from Bing images
Hi Avril,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your links to connect to Caribbean Stories.Right now I am on a mission for Caribbean Stories so I can read them to my students when school reopens and have them available for my students to read also. I believe that students need to be appreciate their culture and stop believing that only foreign things are good. I believe one way of doing that is through the use of Caribbean Literature.
Hi Avril,
ReplyDeleteJust like you, I too love Caribbean Literature, especially the Anansi stories. However, this is the first time that I have heard that carrying water on one's head causes them to walk in a certain manner. Very interesting indeed, it brings a very vivid picture to mind, one of women walking slowly and swaying their hips.
While I agree with what Esther said in her comments to a large extent, I also believe that children should also be expsed to "foreign" literature as it enlarges students' experiences.
I enjoyed reading your blog and thank you for the link to Caribbean Literature.
Much appreciation for the link you recommended. It is wonderful to see that Caribbean stories are available online and can therefore be accessed by students in our classrooms. There should actually be many more stories but I suppose in due course.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up I recall hearing some of the old British soap operas on the radio, as well as poetry via live talent shows such as Aunty Kay. There was also Ian Ali’s story telling segments accompanied with sketches and paintings on Rikki Tikki. Paul Keens Douglas's performances were also aired live. Many of the locally produced shows gave the Trinidadian audience a chance to hear classical Caribbean stories, folktales and comedy in Creole and Standard English. Many families would gather by the radio or in front of the television and laugh together as they shared in this type of community literacy programming. With increased development and technologization, our tastes and attitude towards this type of literacy changed. I think however that a resurgence of storytelling and the oral tradition is an essential aspect of the enhancement of literacy countrywide. Essentially, oral literacy compliments print literacy and can often be inclusive of more learners.
Avril
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for the two sites which you recommended. I am absolutely grateful. I love reading stories with a Caribbean flavour. I can recall reading stories from a book called Nine Folk Tales (I don't recall the name of the author) but what I remember is the absolute joy and delight on the faces of my students as they listened attentively to the stories. These stories also lend themselves to dramatisation. What is also good about them is that they usually ended with a moral so that children learned valuable lessons about how they should treat others and how they should behave. These lessons are hardly passed on in the home and even in some of the schools today. We seem to have lost that sense of moral values. These stories may help to bring back a sense of morality in our children through the valuable lessons they provide.
Hi:
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of Caribbeaen literature, I too am grateful for the links and the attention being paid. I believe that instruction should be culturally-relevant since it caters well to activating students' prior knowledge while also targeting the affective domain--an important motivational facotr for successful learning. Juliet
Hi, thanks for the links. My students love Caribbean stories. They can identify with much of what they read and they can share similar experiences. While we are encouraged to expand their reading and knowledge base, I totally agree with "Reading Writing Connection" that instruction should be culturally relevant. The students gain more out of it, they want to learn more, they don't mind repetitions becuase they are interested. Imagine my horror when as anews teahers I first visited our school's library to find only a handful of Caribbean texts, literally one hand full?
ReplyDeleteThen we say the children are not interested in reading. To expand their scope you have to start with what they know. This applies to every aspect of their learning.
Angela Yatali